


The Cameraman Loves You

by thesoundofnat



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cameras, Fluff, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Photographs, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 22:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15827985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesoundofnat/pseuds/thesoundofnat
Summary: “Why do you wanna take my photo again?” Tony asked, leaning against the wall Steve had put him before.Steve snapped a pic, getting a frown in return. “Just checking the light,” he said before Tony could protest. “Smile for a sec.”Tony did, his lips thin and slightly forced. “Again. Why?”Steve met his eye over the camera. “Because I think you’re beautiful.”(Or, Steve takes pictures of things he finds beautiful, so of course Tony becomes his main subject.)





	The Cameraman Loves You

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about how people react when someone calls them beautiful, remembered that article/video/whatever it was showing people's reactions to it on camera, and decided to write this little fic! I hope you like it!

During Steve’s fourth therapy session he was given a cheap camera and a prompt.

“Take photos of things you find beautiful,” his therapist had said. “That way you will start appreciating the time you’ve found yourself in.”

And Steve, being a good sport, ignored it entirely.

It sat in his closet for a year, gathering dust as it was, until he started packing up his things to move into the Avengers Tower and found it. He blinked, the therapist’s words echoing in his mind as he picked it up, and decided to snap a photo of a pile of his not yet worn out clothes. That was the first of many snapshots.

He did follow the therapist’s advice, only capturing what he found beautiful, until one day he realized he was seeing everything in a new light because he was looking for content. Everything had a little bit of beauty in it, even the dirty dishes lining up the counter after the team had had dinner together.

So then he started asking the others to be in his shots.

“Why do you wanna take my photo again?” Tony asked, leaning against the wall Steve had put him before.

Steve snapped a pic, getting a frown in return. “Just checking the light,” he said before Tony could protest. “Smile for a sec.”

Tony did, his lips thin and slightly forced. “Again. Why?”

Steve met his eye over the camera. “Because I think you’re beautiful.”

_Snap_.

Capturing the exact moment Tony’s smile turned genuine, if not a little surprised. Steve would cherish that photo forever.

“Fuckin’ sap,” Tony mumbled when they were done, and Steve could detect the beginning of a blush creep up his neck, but decided not to comment on it. “You can’t just say stuff like that, you know.”

Steve was fiddling with the camera and did his best not to look away. “And why not?”

“You might give people false hopes.”

“You’re the only one who’s asked why I wanted to photograph them.”

Tony shook his head. “Okay, fine. You might give me false hopes.”

Steve looked away. “Who says it’s false?”

Tony made a sound so peculiar Steve had to turn his gaze back to him, but he didn’t find him choking to death but merely blushing even  _more_ , which at this point was so out of character Steve almost started to worry. “You okay?”

Tony waved a hand at him, the action not matching the appearance at all. “Yeah, yeah, just dandy. So, uh, how many people have you photographed?”

“Everyone.”

“Everyone?”

“On the team, I mean.”

“Oh. Right. You working on a project or something?”

Steve shrugged. “Something like that.”

Truth be told, the only picture he ever printed was the one of Tony. The others he kept on his laptop, forgetting about them a few weeks later.

Steve considered it fortunate that Tony was used to being in front of flashing lights, for each time he brought the camera with him and raised it questioningly Tony didn’t protest, occasionally even taking the time to pose as Steve attempted to find his style within the craft (or so he said).

“You know,” Tony said one day, having paused in his movements to allow Steve to capture him cutting up some veggies for his omelette. “You haven’t complimented me for a picture again.”

Steve lowered the camera. “What do you mean?”

“That time you told me I was beautiful in order to catch my reaction,” Tony said, waving his knife around. “You haven’t pulled that trick since then.”

Steve frowned. And people called him thick. “I didn’t say that for the picture.”

“Then why did you say it?”

“Because I genuinely believed it.”

“Oh.” Tony cut up some peppers, and Steve wondered if maybe he was considering dropping it when he added, “Well, I think you’re rather beautiful yourself.”

Some people would believe this was the start of something, but they never got to continue their conversation due to the emergency alarm blaring on full blast out of nowhere, informing them of an attack only a few blocks away. Tony, instead of elaborating, swore and turned the stove off, leaving his breakfast unfinished.

Steve, in return, left his confession untouched.

* * *

 

The universe wasn’t on their side. Rather than things calming down after the quite prolonged battle, at least for the villain to turn out to be an amateur, they had to attend a meeting.  _How can they stop this. How come they were unable to prevent the lunatic from blowing up local shops. How were they so out of it that they allowed him to even throw that rock on Clint._  All valid questions, Steve admitted, but not welcome in the slightest. Especially not when they were asked so passive aggressively by someone who had only just been promoted and was finally able to give them a piece of his mind, and especially not when Steve longed to go home and possibly continue his conversation with Tony.

Tony, beat and annoyed, was no stranger to talking back during that meeting.

When they returned to the Tower it was way past breakfast time, and Tony ended up throwing what was supposed to be his omelette in the trash. Steve watched him stand before the counter for a moment, as if contemplating, before he sighed and asked the others if they wanted to order take away.

They picked the first movie they saw and settled down with their food in the living room, eating quietly at first until the comments started pouring. About the fight, the food, the movie, the injuries they insisted didn’t hurt. It was one of those moments where Steve picked up his camera without qualms, without wondering how it would be perceived, and without the timidness that he always felt whenever he pointed it at someone without asking.

He didn’t use the flash, since he found his friends being illuminated by the TV to fit the scene, but they caught on anyway and started posing. Peace signs and tongues sticking out and a foot being lifted. Not how anyone would assume the Avengers would pose, but Steve took photo after photo and knew he would have to print these. Stick them on the fridge with the silliest magnets he could find and have them be a reminder that things usually turned out okay.

Tony was the only person sitting to his left, out of frame without bothering to rectify that, but Steve wasn’t about to leave him be. Especially not when his helmet hair had turned out so cute that evening.

Turning the camera to him, Steve asked a silent question. Tony raised an eyebrow, visibly exhausted, but seemingly not enough to deny him this. His lips twitched in response, and Steve snapped a picture of the half-smile.

“Beautiful,” he said, watching Tony from the lens.

Tony huffed out a laugh. “So I’ve heard.”

Had this moment been only theirs, Steve knew it would turn out differently, but the TV was suddenly shoving a fight scene in their faces, the others were conversing loudly behind him, and Tony didn’t look like he was quite up for a talk right now anyway.

Steev lowered the camera, but he never got to put it down. Instead, Tony reached for it, turned it around easily, and snapped a photo of Steve.

“I wasn’t ready,” Steve said with a laugh.

“As if you’d look anything but beautiful,” Tony replied, and Steve was suddenly grateful for the dim lighting.

* * *

 

The next time they were alone together Steve didn’t have his camera to hide behind. If his therapist had known he’d use it as a shield, they might not have suggested it. Feeling exposed, Steve almost turned around to leave again when he entered the kitchen to find only Tony, nursing his coffee alone at the table.

But he didn’t. He had manners, after all, and yes okay he also wasn’t one to deny himself the company of that man. He entered fully. “Hey.”

Tony met his gaze. “Hi. There’s still some in the pot if you want some.”

Steve didn’t, but he wasn’t about to sit down for no reason. “Great.”

“Not sure if we’re out of milk, though.”

“As long as there’s sugar.”

Tony grinned, and Steve could tell he hadn’t gotten much sleep the previous night. “Oh, there’s plenty of sugar.”

Steve felt as if he missed a reference of some kind and didn’t say anything, only poured himself a cup and dumped some sugar into it before sitting down, his knee accidentally brushing against Tony’s thigh in the process.

And then, silence. The realization they were finally alone, finally able to talk, but unsure of how to go about it. For surely they had something to talk about?

Steve briefly panicked over having misread the signs, but it was as if Tony could tell he was overreacting and started speaking immediately. “You don’t have your camera.”

“Oh. No, I left it in my room.”

“No more beautiful things to shoot today?”

“There will always be beautiful things, but I guess you have to learn to appreciate them without capturing them.”

“Like observing them?”

“And memorizing them.”

Tony hummed. “Name something you’ve memorized.”  _About me_ , he didn’t add, or so Steve assumed.

“You get this crinkle by your eyes when you smile really hugely.”

Tony let out a laugh, surprised, maybe even embarrassed. Steve might’ve taken it too far.

“Really?” he said, smiling now, though not big enough. “Is it very noticeable?”

Steve’s lips twitched. “Only if you pay attention.”

“Do you? Pay attention, I mean.”

_Deep breaths, Rogers_. “More than I probably should.”

“Huh. Well, can I name something I’ve memorized due to past observations?”

“Be my guest.”

“You always take longer shooting me. You linger behind the camera as if you’re scared of ruining the moment.” Tony reached out, fingertips touching Steve’s wrist. “It’s cute, but I definitely prefer seeing your whole face.”

_Calm the fuck down, Rogers._  “Is that so?”

“Uh huh.”

“Why is that?”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Why I prefer seeing your whole face?”

“Uh huh.”

“Because it’s the most beautiful face I’ve ever fucking seen, Steve.”

“Oh.”

“Is that all you’re gonna say?” Tony started removing his hand, and Steve’s wrist had never felt so cold. “Sorry, I must’ve interpreted it wrong-”

“Tony.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re the most beautiful person I ever had the privilege to see.”

“Way to one up me.”

“Kiss me. Please.”

And there it was. The smile with the crinkles just in tow. “With pleasure.”

* * *

 

Later, Tony grabbed the camera before Steve had even remembered its existence, aiming it at Steve’s face with such glee that he couldn’t find it in himself to turn away from the lens.

“Smile,” Tony said, and Steve did, not finding it hard even when the flash blinded him. “You spend way too much time behind this thing. It’s a crime, really.”

“It’s an assignment.”

“To shoot beautiful things. You should be front and center.”

Steve laughed. “Stop.”

Tony lowered the camera, smile softening. “I think I need to buy your therapist a fruit basket or something.”

“You really think we wouldn’t get our crap together without the camera?”

“Maybe, but I’m certain it would take much much longer, and I’m an impatient man.”

“You seemed pretty content in not saying a thing until I called you beautiful, though.”

“I’m also a coward.”

“That’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told me.”

Tony leaned down, and Steve met him halfway, locking lips for a brief moment. “No, trust me. Everything about you terrifies me.”

Steve reached out to tangle his fingers in Tony’s hair. “Is that a good thing?”

“Mmm, I think it could be. Means I’m scared I’ll do you wrong, somehow. Or that you’ll break my heart.”

“Maybe we could try to prevent both those things from happening.”

Tony put the camera back on the nightstand, smiling when he turned back to him. “We could try.”

“After all, where will I find a prettier model?”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it, you’re smooth. Now come here.”

Steve obliged eagerly.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://thesoundofnat.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
